130-170 AD
Trans RMBullard
Latin (Imperial Era)
[I. De iure civili et naturali.]
[Concerning civil and natural law.]
1. Omnes populi, qui legibus et moribus reguntur, partim suo proprio, partim communi omnium hominum iure utuntur:
[All peoples who are governed by laws and national custom make some use of their own legal system and some use of one recognized by all men:]
Nam quod quisque populus ipse sibi ius constituit, id ipsius proprium est vocaturque ius civile, quasi ius proprium civitatis;
[You see, whatever system of law a population establishes for itself, this system of theirs is technically assigned the appellation of 'civil law', in much the same respect as the jurisdiction of a city.]
quod vero naturalis ratio inter omnes homines constituit, id apud omnes populos peraeque custoditur vocaturque ius gentium, quasi quo iure omnes gentes utuntur.
[Indeed, whatever the natural order of things has established among all human beings is protected by all nations, no matter where, and called the 'international law,' in much the same respect as though all populations operate under this system of law.]
Populus itaque Romanus partim suo proprio, partim communi omnium hominum iure utitur. Quae singula qualia sint, suis locis proponemus.
[And so, the Roman people operate partly according to its very own legal system, and partly according the common jurisdiction of all human beings.]
2. Constant autem iura populi Romani ex legibus, plebiscitis, senatus consultis, constitutionibus principum, edictis eorum, qui ius edicendi habent, responsis prudentium.
[But the laws derive from precedents set by Roman government, acts of the common assembly, recommendations by the Senate, decrees by the emperor and their edicts--these men have the right to make proclamations--and responses of legal experts.]
3. Lex est, quod populus iubet atque constituit.
[The 'law' is whatever the people command and decide.]
Plebiscitum est, quod plebs iubet atque constituit.
[A 'plebescite' is whatever the plebeian order commands and decides.]
Plebs autem a populo eo distat, quod populi appellatione universi cives significantur, connumeratis et patriciis;
[Still, the plebeian order differs from the people in the respect that the people are all 'citizens' by name, including patricians in their numbers;]
plebis autem appellatione sine patriciis ceteri cives significantur;
[but to be 'plebeian' means any citizens who are not patricians by name;]
unde olim patricii dicebant plebiscitis se non teneri, quia sine auctoritate eorum facta essent;
[from this, long ago, the patrician class used to say that they could not be held accountable by legal acts of the common folk, because they were not made with any sense of authority;]
sed postea lex Hortensia lata est, qua cautum est, ut plebiscita universum populum tenerent:
[but later on, the Hortensian Law was established, whereby it was decreed that acts of the common folk held the force of law over the entire population.]
Itaque eo modo legibus exaequata sunt.
[And so in this fashion, the laws came to level to a playing field.]
4. Senatus consultum est, quod senatus iubet atque constituit;
[The senatorial final decree is the declaration the Senate orders after it has decided.]
idque legis vicem optinet,
[It takes the place of our normal legal procedure]
quamvis [de ea re] fuerit quaesitum.
[however much shall have been deliberated about the matter.]
5. Constitutio principis est,
[A consitutional decree is act of the emperor]
quod imperator decreto vel edicto vel epistula constituit.
[which the emperor has either decided by public decree, or via a written statement.]
Nec umquam dubitatum est,
[It has never become a matter of doubt]
quin id legis vicem optineat,
[as to whether this actually holds the force of law,]
cum ipse imperator per legem imperium accipiat.
[since the emperor, by his own rights, takes upon himself the power of the state through the enactment of legal procedure.]
6. Ius autem edicendi habent magistratus populi Romani.
[In any event, the magistrates of the Roman people have the sole right to make legal proclamations.]
Sed amplissimum ius est in edictis duorum praetorum, urbani et peregrini,
[but most of all does the legal system rely on the public proclamations of the two praetors, the one over the city and the one over foreign affairs,]
quorum in provinciis iurisdictionem praesides earum habent;
[the jurisdiction of whose is by possessed by their presiding members in the provinces]
item in edictis aedilium curulium, quorum iurisdictionem in provinciis populi Romani quaestores habent;
[at the same time, the law is expressed in the public proclamations of the seated aediles, whose jurisdiction the quaestors of the Roman people possess over the provinces]
nam in provincias Caesaris omnino quaestores non mittuntur,
[you see, in no way are the matters sent to provinces in the possession of Caesar]
et ob id hoc edictum in his provinciis non proponitur.
[and on account of this, this kind of public proclamation is not even proposed in these provinces.]
7. Responsa prudentium sunt sententiae et opiniones eorum,
[The declarations and opinions of these are the responses of prudent men,]
quibus permissum est iura condere.
[to whom it was permitted to establish codes of law.]
Quorum omnium si in unum sententiae concurrunt,
[If the decrees of all these aforementioned items agree in unison,]
id, quod ita sentiunt, legis vicem optinet;
[that, upon which they so agree, holds the power of law.]
unde olim patricii dicebant plebiscitis se non teneri, quia sine auctoritate eorum facta essent;
[from this, long ago, the patrician class used to say that they could not be held accountable by legal acts of the common folk, because they were not made with any sense of authority;]
sed postea lex Hortensia lata est, qua cautum est, ut plebiscita universum populum tenerent:
[but later on, the Hortensian Law was established, whereby it was decreed that acts of the common folk held the force of law over the entire population.]
Itaque eo modo legibus exaequata sunt.
[And so in this fashion, the laws came to level to a playing field.]
4. Senatus consultum est, quod senatus iubet atque constituit;
[The senatorial final decree is the declaration the Senate orders after it has decided.]
idque legis vicem optinet,
[It takes the place of our normal legal procedure]
quamvis [de ea re] fuerit quaesitum.
[however much shall have been deliberated about the matter.]
5. Constitutio principis est,
[A consitutional decree is act of the emperor]
quod imperator decreto vel edicto vel epistula constituit.
[which the emperor has either decided by public decree, or via a written statement.]
Nec umquam dubitatum est,
[It has never become a matter of doubt]
quin id legis vicem optineat,
[as to whether this actually holds the force of law,]
cum ipse imperator per legem imperium accipiat.
[since the emperor, by his own rights, takes upon himself the power of the state through the enactment of legal procedure.]
6. Ius autem edicendi habent magistratus populi Romani.
[In any event, the magistrates of the Roman people have the sole right to make legal proclamations.]
Sed amplissimum ius est in edictis duorum praetorum, urbani et peregrini,
[but most of all does the legal system rely on the public proclamations of the two praetors, the one over the city and the one over foreign affairs,]
quorum in provinciis iurisdictionem praesides earum habent;
[the jurisdiction of whose is by possessed by their presiding members in the provinces]
item in edictis aedilium curulium, quorum iurisdictionem in provinciis populi Romani quaestores habent;
[at the same time, the law is expressed in the public proclamations of the seated aediles, whose jurisdiction the quaestors of the Roman people possess over the provinces]
nam in provincias Caesaris omnino quaestores non mittuntur,
[you see, in no way are the matters sent to provinces in the possession of Caesar]
et ob id hoc edictum in his provinciis non proponitur.
[and on account of this, this kind of public proclamation is not even proposed in these provinces.]
7. Responsa prudentium sunt sententiae et opiniones eorum,
[The declarations and opinions of these are the responses of prudent men,]
quibus permissum est iura condere.
[to whom it was permitted to establish codes of law.]
Quorum omnium si in unum sententiae concurrunt,
[If the decrees of all these aforementioned items agree in unison,]
id, quod ita sentiunt, legis vicem optinet;
[that, upon which they so agree, holds the power of law.]
